Flow around Cells Adhered to a Microvessel Wall. III. Effects of Neighboring Cells in Channel Flow

Abstract

The flow past cells adherent to the bottom plate of a parallel-plate channel is numerically analyzed in the zero-Reynolds-number limit, and the effect of the neighboring adherent cells on the drag force exerted on an adherent cell is examined. The cells are modeled as rigid spherical particles and they are assumed to be attached to the channel wall regularly in a square array. It is found that, when the size ratio of the cell-to-channel height is smaller than approximately 0.2, the drag force exerted on an adherent cell is well approximated by a linear function of the size ratio, almost independently of the separation distances between neighboring cells except for the cases of very narrow spacing. For larger size ratios, the drag force on an adherent cell in channel flow is generally smaller than the corresponding value in tube flow, but both values vary considerably, depending on the size ratios and the separation distances.